WHERE does the church stand? Out upon the sea of indulgence many a soul is tossed by “every wind of doctrine.” It is trying to make safe harbor. But money, folly, pleasure, mirth, and intemperance are driving it upon the sand-bars of moral ruin. Conscience warns of the shallow waters; but the heart insists that it is enough to keep in range with the church. So it is, if the church still stands upon the good old ground of the New Testament, having been built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. But if the church has been removed to some other ground, it may cause the wreck of souls. The question then is, Where does the church stand?
We mean, not the church at large, but your individual church, whoever our reader may be. We take it for granted that you have an attachment to some church. You ought to have. It may bless you; you may bless it. We honor the church as the most powerful of all organizations and the highest of all institutions. In our view, it is of divine origin, for a divine purpose. Yet it is composed of human beings. It is greatly under the control of fallible men. Their views and policy may change; and, as they are changed, the church is removed from an old to a new moral position.
What is the position of your particular church in reference to questions of self-denial and indulgence? What ground does the pastor take? What ground do the members take? What ground do you take? That position will determine the general influence for good or evil.—Rev. William M. Blackburn.
Temperance Movement in Ohio.
THE temperance people of Ohio are circulating for signatures two petitions, of which the following are copies:—
1. “We, the undersigned, in full belief that the Second or Prohibitory Amendment submitted by the late Legislature to the vote of the people on October 9, 1883, received a very large number of votes which, for reasons unmentioned, were not recorded, most respectfully and earnestly urge upon your honorable body the propriety and equity of submitting to the vote of the people a single proposition, to so amend the Constitution that the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage shall be forever prohibited within the State; and should the amendment be adopted on the second Tuesday of October, 1885, that the Legislature upon that day elected, shall, at its first session, enact a law for the enforcement of such amendment.”
2. “Believing a thorough temperance education will greatly aid children and youth in resisting temptation, we, the undersigned, respectfully petition your honorable body to enact a law requiring, in all schools supported by public money or under State control, instruction in Physiology and Hygiene, which shall give special prominence to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system.”
Tobacco Use and Longevity
For every five persons who use tobacco in England, France, and Russia, there are fifteen in Germany and North America, twenty-four in Belgium, and twenty-eight in Holland. The medical fraternity are comparatively unanimous in condemning its use in every form, and rank it only second to intoxicating liquors as the foe to longevity and the promoter of insanity.
Crime and Strong Drink
More than three-fourths of the crime throughout the country is committed under the influence of strong drink. This fact ought to open the eyes of every peace-loving community.
Time of the Sabbath.
By Editor
MIDNIGHT OR EVENING.
A REQUEST comes to us to give a reason for our practice of beginning the Sabbath in the evening, at the setting of the sun. This we can easily do, and we have a good reason to give, because it is in the words of the Bible itself. And the request is accompanied with the question, why we differ with other people in the commencement of the day.
It is a very small matter with us with whom we differ, as long as we are in harmony with the truth of God. But the query is suggestive. It is a very commonly received idea that it is useless, absurd, even wrong to "differ with other people." The question of the right and the wrong seems to have little to do with the case. If the multitude go in a certain direction, it is at once taken for granted that that is the right way. Matt. 7:13, 14 is ignored as much as if such a scripture had never been given.
Before entering upon the line of proof, we will notice the fact that nobody ever pretends to find any evidence in the Bible for keeping a day from midnight to midnight. Dr. Smith says: "The commencement of the civil day varies in different nations: the Babylonians reckoned it from sunrise to sunrise; the Umbrians from noon to noon; the Romans from midnight to midnight; the Athenians and others from sunset to sunset. The Hebrews naturally adopted the latter reckoning from Gen. 1:5, "the evening and the morning were the first day."
Which is to say that the Hebrews adopted the evening or sunset time because they followed the word of God. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, he numbered the days of the week, and marked their beginning and their ending. Each consisted of an evening, or a dark part, and a morning, or a light part. This order is natural; it was unavoidable, because "darkness was upon the face of the deep" before light was created. And in the Bible no other order was ever recognized; the days had no names, but were counted in their order, and they commenced with the evening. Only the seventh day was named "the Sabbath;" the day of the Lord's rest.
This would be sufficient to indicate the proper course of action in regard to the beginning of Sabbath observance, if we had no other reason to offer. But the Lord has spoken directly on the point. In Lev. 23:32, he said: "From even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." This will apply to all days of observance, as all days commence at the same point of time—at even.
The only possible question that can be raised is this: Does the evening or "at even" mean at the setting of the sun? And to this we have a direct answer in the word of God. We have noticed that "the evening" covers the dark part of the whole day which is marked by a complete revolution of the earth. As the sun gives light, the setting of the sun brings darkness, or evening. And on this we have direct proof. "And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide [Heb., until the evening]; and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree." Josh. 8:29. "And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees." Josh. 10:26, 27.
The same fact is stated in the New Testament. It was the Sabbath, after Jesus had taught and healed one in the synagogue in Capernaum, when he entered into the house of Simon, and healed his wife's mother. The healing of the man in the synagogue was noised abroad, and it is written: "And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils." Mark 1:32. They waited until the close of the Sabbath, until the evening, and then brought their sick to be healed. Thus it is fully proved by the Bible, by both the Old and New Testaments, that the Sabbath begins and ends at the setting of the sun.
But some insist that it is not a matter of much importance whether we commence the day at sunset or at midnight. To this we reply: It is not a matter of small importance whether or not we keep the commandment of God; whether we obey him or disobey him. We hold that it is essential to keep the day which God blessed and sanctified, and commands us to keep; and that it is an act of open rebellion to knowingly substitute another in its place. And if so it is also important to keep that entire day; not part of that day and part of another day. God set apart the day from sunset to sunset, and requires us to keep it in that order. To depart from that order, and to introduce an order of our own, is to depart from God's commandment and to follow our own spirit (Ezek. 13:2, 3); it is will-worship.
This is our answer; who will say it is not sufficient? And who will undertake to gainsay it, and to prove by the Bible that another order is equally acceptable? We invite the objector and the inquirer to study carefully Deut. 6:25. "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us." There is a great deal of professed obedience to God in these days; obedience modified by men's surroundings, their convenience, or their feelings. But to keep God's commandments as he has commanded us is the only obedience which he accepts. See also Ex. 23:13.
"Ye Have Killed the People of the Lord."
WHEN the Lord brought evil upon the house of Israel because they had departed from him and worshiped Baal, they put the blame upon Elijah, who was endeavoring to bring them back to the keeping of God's commandments. History informs us that the servants of God have sometimes suffered sore persecution on account of public calamities, the trouble being ascribed to their persistence in following Christ. And we are instructed to believe that as the perils and troubles of the last days increase in the world, they will be laid at the door of those who refuse to exalt human laws and human traditions above the commandments of God.
All errors and innovations which have ever been brought into the church have had for their foundation the profession of a pious intention. Thus the Saviour said that the Jews made void the commandment of God, which required them to honor their father and their mother, under the pretense of extraordinary piety in consecrating all they had to the Lord. So the Church of Rome ignores the second commandment, because they find that the adoration of images greatly increases devotion! And so almost the entire Protestant world now regard obedience to the fourth commandment of Jehovah's law as something worthy only of reproach, while the observance of "the venerable day of the sun," as a substitute for the Sabbath of the Lord God, is considered a high type of Christianity! And, as we have said, and the prophecy plainly teaches, they who refuse "to worship the beast and his image," and hold fast to "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus," will be persecuted as troublers of Israel. Rev. 13:11-15; 14:9-12.
People who do not closely mark the "sure word of prophecy" often reject this view, solely from their inability to believe that people will act so blindly. But human nature has not changed, and it has ever repeated its errors and rebellions when the circumstances enabled it to find an excuse. In this respect it is true that "the thing that hath been, it is that which shall be." Eccl. 1:9. In the book of Numbers we find just such a case of blindness, and it contains a double lesson to us in these days: to avoid ascribing the judgments of God to those who are doing and teaching his commandments, and to respect God's instruments in carrying out his work even as we respect the work to be done.
The children of Israel had accomplished full half of their allotted forty years' wandering in the desert, and had seen many of the wondrous works of God. As we read the history we are surprised that they were not so forcibly impressed with the presence of God, and of the divine mission of Moses, as to always stand in awe of the Majesty of Heaven, and always respect the teachings of one who had proved so "faithful in all his house." But let us read the lesson:—
"And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods."
"And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense." "But on the morrow all the congregation of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord." Num. 16:32, 35, 41.
This was surely one of the most singular instances of rebellion on record. Indeed, it has sometimes seemed hard to reconcile such blindness, such mad infatuation, with the ordinary sense with which they must have been possessed, and the light they had received from the many manifestations of God's power in their behalf. And,
1. We read that the earth opened, and swallowed up a certain company who were in open rebellion. By what method of reasoning could they make Moses and Aaron answerable for this?
2. A fire came out from the Lord and consumed a company who aspired to the priesthood in direct opposition to the ordinance of God. Was this the work of Moses and Aaron? or if they thought it was, would it not then prove to them that Moses and Aaron had power over heaven and earth? that they held them under such control that they would do their bidding? How, then, dared they so soon inaugurate a new rebellion against them? Such blindness seems almost unaccountable.
But the Lord said, by Samuel, "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." 1 Sam. 15:23. We know that witchcraft has a power to so pervert men's faculties, that everything is distorted to their vision. Wrong is made to appear right, and they are blinded to the simplest and plainest reasons and facts. And such, too, is the power and tendency of rebellion. This alone appears to account for their conduct. A person bewitched feels perfectly secure in his position, and is scarcely moved by evidence of his error. So, too, with a person with rebellious tendencies. It is always selfish and unreasonable. Seldom, very seldom, does a person recover himself from the strong influence of witchcraft. And so hard is it for a person of a rebellious spirit to entirely escape from this terrible snare of the enemy, not realizing the awful danger of his position, he can hardly be persuaded to make the strong effort necessary to break away from it. The victim is like a charmed person, who thinks he is enjoying the greatest freedom and the richest pleasure, while the toils of the destroyer are closing around him.121
The New-Testament prophecies of the last days inform us that Satan will work "with all power, and signs, and lying wonders." All these are plain to be seen, easy to be identified. But who shall describe, and sufficiently warn against, that spoken of in the same text, "all deceivableness of unrighteousness."
God has a great and important work to be accomplished in and for "this generation." His commandments must be restored, and thereby a people fitted for translation. Doubtless, the deceptions of the enemy are aimed against this work; but thousands fall into the snare who know not for what purpose the enemy has entrapped them.
But God has always carried on every great reform through certain instrumentalities. A work necessarily requires workers; and the last are as much a part of God's plan as is the first. Some, strangely enough, seem blinded to this fact, and think they are friends to the work, while they are opposing the workers. If they are not beyond the reach of reason, they must see that their position is most unreasonable. And if their senses are so stupified that they cannot see it, it is the duty of others to take warning, and avoid the danger into which they have so heedlessly run. Through all the inspired records, we find that God has looked upon his instruments as an essential part of his plan; and rejection of them has always been counted as rejection of him. "The tree and its fruit" are always classed together; and they who love the fruit, will show it by their regard for the tree.
That Sunday Blessing.
By Uriah Smith
"If Sunday is not the Sabbath, why have I been blessed so often for keeping it?" One of our T. and M. workers writes that the people he meets bring up this excuse more frequently than any other for not keeping the Sabbath. God has blessed us, they say, for keeping Sunday, and that is proof to us that it must be right.
But let us look at this proposition a moment. We would ask them, first, if they are sure God has blessed them for keeping Sunday. That he has blessed them while keeping it, we will not deny; but that is a very different thing from blessing them for it. Has any one with the issue before him, with a conviction that he must keep Sunday as a duty to God, in opposition to counter influences and impulses, decided in its behalf and been blessed therefor? This question we must answer in the negative till further evidence to the contrary is presented. It will be found that when they have been so blessed, the question of Sunday observance was not the point at issue at all. We lay this down as the general rule. There may have been exceptional cases of the kind, which we will now name.
We have known persons to be soundly convicted of their duty to observe the Sabbath of the Lord; but it involved a cross, and personal inconvenience, and perhaps pecuniary loss; and they were determined not to keep it, if any possible excuse could be framed for such a course. At length they would seize upon some flimsy pretext, and with it stifle their convictions, give up all idea of keeping the Sabbath, and thereupon feel great peace of mind and buoyancy of feeling. What was it? The blessing of God? Not by any means, but the spirit of error counterfeiting the blessing of God—the work of the enemy, not the work of the Lord. Fearful deception!
We received a letter not long since from a young man rejoicing in the discovery that the Sabbath was not binding and no one was under obligation to keep it. He was a telegraph operator and had a good situation. He had been powerfully convicted of his duty to keep the Sabbath; but after studying on the subject a long time, he suddenly discovered that the ministration of death was "done away," and then away went the Sabbath in his own mind, and all his convictions of duty; and in his exuberance of joy he wrote to us of his emancipation from "the yoke of bondage." Now we can read that case as easily as we can read an open book. The Sabbath stood in the way of his business. He would lose his situation if he kept it; but that he was determined not to lose; his pecuniary interests would suffer; and not having integrity or nerve enough to follow duty in the face of unfavorable worldly prospects, he seized upon that flimsy pretext, a perversion of 2 Cor. 3, to throttle his conscience and throw off convictions of duty, and then felt great relief and freedom. What was it? God's blessing? No, but a soothing spell thrown over him by the power of darkness. God will accept no unwilling and half-hearted obedience; and if this is all a man has to offer, he will suffer him to follow his own way as he did Balaam. From this snare and deception of the enemy into which this young man has fallen we have our fears that nothing will arouse him till, in the Judgment, he meets the demands of God's unchangeable law, and has nothing to answer.
So some may have acted in reference to the Sunday question, and thought they received a blessing; but any blessing received for Sunday-keeping, we aver, without any fear that it will be disproved in the great day when all secrets shall be revealed, has been one of the kind last indicated.
But let us analyze this excuse a little further. If Sunday-keeping had been an error (so they reason), God would not have blessed them in it. If such is the rule, it would work in everything else as well as Sunday-keeping. This could of course be no exception; so we must make the rule universal, and come to this conclusion, namely, that no man can be blest while he is cherishing any error; that any one who receives the blessing of God, is absolutely free from all error! This is the inevitable conclusion from this objection. But will our friends stand to this? Every denomination of Christians believes that all the others are involved in some errors of doctrine or practice. But will any one deny to all the others the blessing of God? It is logically bound to do so according to this rule. Suppose the Methodist should say, God has blessed me for being sprinkled; but if sprinkling for baptism is wrong, God would not have blessed me in it; therefore sprinkling is right! What would the Baptist say to this? Just so of any difference of views or practice between any of the denominations.
But further, has God anywhere laid down this rule by which to test what is truth? Has he said, Whatever you have my blessing in, that is truth; and by this you are to determine what the truth is? If he has not, then no man has any right to erect such a standard? But all know that he has said nothing of the kind. But he says that his word is truth. Whatever he has declared and caused to be written as his revealed will, that is his truth; and that we are to obey regardless of feeling or blessing.
But how then can it be explained that so many have enjoyed the blessing of the Lord while in the observance of Sunday? That this has been the case we freely admit. But the matter is easily explained according to a rule which Christ himself lays down. He teaches that a person is responsible only for the light he has. Thus he said of the Jews: "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin." If a person is honest at heart, desiring, no matter at what sacrifice, to do God's will, and is walking up to the best light he has, the Lord accepts such person according to his good intentions and the amount of light he enjoys; for it is required of a man according to that he "hath, and not according to that he hath not." 2 Cor. 8:12. Multitudes, yes the great majority of Christendom, have no doubt honestly observed the first day of the week, supposing they were doing God's commandment thereby; and multitudes are at the present time so observing it. And God does not withhold his blessing from them, because they are honest in purpose, and it is the best light they have. But when light comes, and new truth is developed, that light must be followed, and that truth obeyed, or condemnation will follow. To refuse to do it because you have been blessed without doing it before you had the light, is to abuse God's mercy by making his past favors an excuse for not doing his present will. Be not guilty of so great a sin. But receive the truth and share in the new blessing which always accompanies it.—U. S., in Review and Herald.
Massachusetts Prohibition Convention.
By S. N. Haskell
On Tuesday, February 5, we had the pleasure of attending the Massachusetts State Prohibition Convention at Tremont Temple, Boston. There were delegates representing the temperance cause from all parts of the State, and there were also representative men and women from some of the Western States.
Hon. Mr. Finch, who has been laboring successfully in the State during this winter in behalf of the prohibition movement, was present. Many sound and practical speeches were made,
The object of the Convention was to take steps to present a petition to the Legislature that a law might be enacted prohibiting the manufacture and sale of liquors in Massachusetts. They saw the122necessity of laying aside all party spirit and uniting upon the grand question of temperance, in order to be successful in that movement. They discarded the idea that because a man was a Republican he must be put in office, or because he was a Democrat he should be a candidate; neither was their object to originate a new party. But here is a moral evil, a stain upon the land, a snare of the devil, to take the youth and all that can be induced and lead them in the path of destruction. Therefore they called for men who saw this evil, who felt it must be removed, to act in harmony upon this one great question, irrespective of party spirit, either politically or ecclesiastically.
There were many Vice-Presidents chosen, and these Vice-Presidents were representative men of different parties and denominations. One was a Roman Catholic priest, who upon this occasion made an eloquent address touching the evils of intemperance. He acknowledged with sadness that many of the people whom he represented were not prohibitionists, but he was decidedly in favor of a law, and then enforcing it, that ardent spirits might not be sold so as to be used as a beverage in any place. The zeal and manner upon which they proposed to unite to meet the evil were certainly commendable, and we could endorse nearly every word said and every measure adopted for the removal of this moral evil which is bringing such terrible results in this Christian land.
One point which was made in the Convention was to educate the people to see where we are drifting. Place before them reading matter. Hon. John B. Finch related instances where all the addresses of individuals opposed to prohibition in an entire community were secured, and certain temperance periodicals sent them for a year. In one case there were thus secured nearly four hundred addresses of persons who were opposed to this movement, and the result was very favorable, as many of them were led to subscribe and take their stand on the right side of the question. This illustrated the importance of educating the people.
After witnessing their zeal and earnestness, their wisdom in laying aside the party spirit and uniting their forces upon the particular point which they had before them, I was led to reflect upon the nature of our special work, and the wisdom that we manifest to accomplish the same. Let our leading men be as wise in laying their plans to present the truth before the people as they were to carry their point; let our people manifest as much zeal as the delegates manifested on this occasion, and we will see far more accomplished than we have ever yet seen in a brief period of time. There are ten thousand people who should become subscribers for our periodicals, especially for the Signs of the Times and Good Health, within the next three months, who now know nothing of our views. We are doing nothing in comparison to what we might do. Every plan should be devised that can be to get the truth before the people. It would seem, when we look at our present feeble efforts, in comparison with the importance and magnitude of the work, that some power unseen paralyzes our energies.
It was a frequent expression of those delegates at the Convention, that moral suasion was good in its place, but the time had come for decided action, that their sons and daughters should not have the temptations placed before them in saloons and liquor dens. They were determined. We should be no less determined to carry forward the work that God has committed to us. When they called for means, pledges were taken in sums varying from a few cents to a thousand dollars. Finally one man proposed to give $5.00 to every other person that would give the same amount. He had pledged liberally before; this gave the pledges a new impetus, and in a short time they raised over a thousand dollars, in view of having their sums doubled.
Another important thing I was led to contemplate: Should they turn their attention to the Sunday movement, and pursue the same course to carry the Sunday Law, manifest the same zeal and energy which they undoubtedly will do in a very brief space of time, they will include every first-day denomination, and many of every political party and every sect which exists.
May the Lord give us wisdom to see where we are, and prepare for the battle which lies just before us. S. N. HASKELL.
Catholicism Among Colored People
By Editor
The San Francisco Monitor rejoices over the great progress of the Roman Catholic faith amongst the colored people of America. Until the last generation there was scarcely a colored Catholic in the country; but since the abolition of slavery tens of thousands have, according to this authority, been brought into the fold.
A Good Example.
By Editor
THE St. Helena Star sets a good example, which we wish would be followed by the papers generally. It is giving interesting lectures to that class of lawyers who rack their brains and resort to doubtful expedients to circumvent the law and to defeat justice by saving villains from punishment, even after their guilt is clearly proved. After a criminal is found guilty of the foulest crimes, a "new trial" is secured, and sometimes this is again repeated and thus the tax-payers have to bear heavy expenses, the witnesses are dead or removed, and the criminal is turned loose upon society, emboldened in crime by his success in eluding the penalty of the law. And the lawyer, instead of being ashamed of himself as an abettor of crime, prides himself on his cleverness.
A man was recently hanged in San Francisco who had been a heavy tax on the city for several years, though his guilt was beyond question. We do not care to repeat the story of his crimes, but his own confession proved that he was unfit to live in civilized society. After repeated convictions, an appeal was made to Governor Stoneman to stay the execution. This failing, a last appeal was made to Chief-Justice Morrison to interfere, evidently with the hope to complicate matters so as possibly to let the convict escape. This also failed; and we honor these two officers for their decision.
And then followed an incident which we record with shame. On the morning of the execution a woman applied to the Sheriff for the privilege of marrying the felon! Very sensibly he told her he would have no such nonsense there. Is it any wonder that crime abounds? The vilest sinners are made to feel that they are heroes, the proper objects of sympathy, and every one is assured that the gallows is the open gate to heaven! Such mawkishness is sickening.
Heroism of the Huguenots.
By Henry Frederic Reddall
ON the fifteenth of April, 1598, Henry of Navarre, King of France, granted to the Protestants of his realm the famous "Edict of Nantes," so called because it was first proclaimed in the city of that name. Until this time, ever since the rise of the Reformation, the adherents of the newer and purer faith had suffered unnumbered outrages at the hands of the Roman priesthood, whose creed was the only one recognized by the State.
Now, however, the Reformers, or Huguenots, as they were called in France, were to be allowed to worship God in their own way throughout the kingdom. For nearly a hundred years, though many tyrannical laws were passed against these Protestants, and though they were the victims of countless cruelties, they enjoyed a fuller liberty than had been theirs since the evil days of Francis the First.
But the Church of Rome had viewed with anger and dismay the concessions granted by the Edict. Pope Clement VIII. said in a letter to Henry, that "a decree which gave liberty of conscience to all was the most accursed that had ever been made;" and the crafty clergy used all their malicious ingenuity to defeat its merciful provisions.
So we are not surprised to find that in the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV. a long series of savage oppressions culminated in what is known to history as the "Revocation of the Edict of Nantes." This occurred on the 22d of October, 1685.
By the stroke of a pen all the immunities that had been granted by King Henry were swept away, and once more the terrors of the sword and the stake were let loose upon the hunted Huguenots.
A merciless persecution ensued, to escape which the Huguenots by thousands sought to leave their native land. Numbers succeeded in reaching England, Holland, Germany, and even America; but so vigilant was the guard123over frontier and sea-coast that it daily became more difficult to escape. Capture meant the separation of husbands and wives, or of parents and children, imprisonment, torture, and death. No youth was so tender, no age so venerable, as to insure safety.
It is of the adventures and sufferings of some little ones in this time of trial that I propose to tell:—
In the town of Nimes lived a young Huguenot watchmaker and his wife. They had one child—a baby girl. The horrors of persecution daily drew nearer to their town. Friends had preceded them across the sea, and they knew that honor and happiness awaited them in a foreign land; but escape seemed impossible. If they should appear at the gates of the town with the child, their purpose would be divined and frustrated. To conceal the infant was likewise impossible, for every bale of merchandise was rigorously searched; to entrust her to a stranger was out of the question—no one, Catholic or Protestant, would assume the risk.
At length a happy idea presented itself. At dusk of evening the little one was given a strong sleeping potion and then swathed in cloaks and other wrappings until it looked like a shapeless bundle of rags, a cord was passed around it, and to this was attached several yards of twine, at the end of which was a cork.
Darkness setting in, the trembling parents left their home to put their plan into effect. In the old European towns of that day the streets often sloped from the houses on either side to a small ditch or gutter in the middle, which nearly always contained some running water. The gutter ran under the city gate of Nimes, and emptied into the open country beyond.
Approaching the postern, which was closed for the night, the mother laid her precious burden in the center of the ditch, while the father set free the twine tied to the cork. There was not much water flowing, but there was enough to wet the babe, and its cold embrace might cause it to awake. This would spoil all, and we may be sure they prayed that the sleeping draught would hold their darling in its embrace awhile longer.
Then the parents knocked at the guard-house and requested to be allowed to pass out of the town. The sentry knew them well, and eyed them narrowly, but seeing that the mother had not her child in her arms, he inferred that they were only about to make a short journey into the country; for, he reasoned, no Huguenot mother will desert her babe. So he turned the heavy lock, the iron-bound gate swung slowly on its creaking hinges, and they passed out of the light of the sentry's lantern into the blackness beyond.
They waited in the shadow of the wall until his retreating footsteps marked his return to the guard-house. Then the father sprang to the edge of the ditch, whose waters gurgled noisily over the stones. Sure enough here is the cork, bobbing about bravely, with a taut string behind it. Draw it gently, lest it break! Now, Heaven be thanked! the babe is hauled safely under the massive portal, not a sound having escaped it, and in an instant is clasped to its mother's heaving breast. A hurried march across the country, and parents and child are sheltered in the house of a friend, whence access to a waiting vessel is comparatively easy.
Another Huguenot family, consisting of father, mother, a daughter, Angela, aged sixteen, and two little boys, Edward and Armand, aged six and four years respectively, resolved to fly from their own unhappy land. They were wealthy people, so they commenced by sewing their money and jewels in a number of quilted petticoats, such as were then fashionable, which they consigned to friends over the sea. But just as they were ready to start the father was arrested and cast into prison.
His loved ones hastened to him, but he urged them not to delay their flight on his account; he would rejoin them when better times came. They yielded to his entreaties. The lady, disguised as the wife of her husband's valet, managed to reach a sea-port, where she arranged for a passage to England for herself and children, and then secreted herself while the valet returned for them.
The daughter arrayed herself as a farmer's daughter, and put her little brothers in a pannier on either side of the donkey. Then she covered them over with vegetables and farm produce heaped high, and set out, the man servant riding on ahead in the garb of a farmer.
They traveled only at night at first, but as time pressed they decided to make the last few stages of the journey by day. The children were especially enjoined not to speak or move, no matter what should happen.
On the last day of their travels the girl was alarmed by the sight of a troop of horse-soldiers riding rapidly in pursuit. They reined in their horses when abreast of the donkey, and commanded her to halt.
"What is in those baskets?" demanded their leader.
Before Angela could reply one of the troopers drew his long rapier and plunged it into the pannier in which the youngest boy was hidden. She almost fainted, but not a sound came from the basket. The soldiers, concluding that nothing was amiss, turned and galloped away, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
Scarcely were they out of sight than Angela seized the pannier, and threw off its upper contents, expecting to see her little brother a bleeding corpse. But happily, though covered with blood, the only injury he had sustained was a sword-cut in one of his arms, which his sister quickly bound up. The heroic little fellow, shut up in his basket-prison, knew that if he uttered a sound the lives of all would be lost, so he bravely bore the pain and kept silent. He carried the mark of that sword thrust as long as he lived.
These young refugees ultimately reached England, but their father never left his dungeon alive.—Henry Frederic Reddall.
The Missionary.
THE SEALING TIME.
"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Rev. 7:3.
WHILE angels hold the winds of strife,
Soldiers of Christ, arise;
And onward with the message go,
Till you shall win the prize.
Pause not nor linger by the way,
Remember ye Lot's wife!
Look not behind, nor more delay;
The prize is endless life.
Though for awhile there may be peace,
Yet long it will not last;
The stillness of the deep blue sea
Omens the stormy blast.
And it is so with kingdoms now,
And calm upon the main;
But war and tumult soon more rife
Will spread o'er earth again.
Up, then, and work and watch and pray,
Nor seek here for repose;
Throw ease and pleasure quite away,
Our work here soon will close;
And then, if faithful we have been,
We'll have a rich reward;
Eternal life shall be our gain—
So saith the faithful Word. —Selected.